Dad has returned from the deserted island.
Chapter 18
“Hah!”
[I told you to be quiet! You pink-haired brat. Didn’t you hear that you shouldn’t disturb someone while they’re sleeping?]
“I, I’m sorry for waking you… but I just wanted to try talking to you—”
[Children are truly impossible… Wait, you understood me?]
“Yeah! Isn’t that awesome?”
The cat, whose eyes were already large, widened them even further, opened its mouth to say something, and then jumped to its feet.
[How can a human… Divine Beast!]
Kiki had sauntered out from behind Vivian and revealed himself.
Even though the cat was much larger than Kiki, it acted like a fresh recruit who had just enlisted and was strictly following military discipline.
[Yawn. This child is the human tasked with serving me. So, I have shared a bit of my power with her.]
[Aha! I had heard rumors that you were staying in this house. I didn’t know this child had been given such a mission.]
“Its way of speaking suddenly got weird.”
Hearing Vivian’s words, the cat let out an awkward yawn.
Then, it slowly approached and rubbed its body against Vivian’s calves, acting friendly.
[You’ve had a hard time, but you’ve moved up in the world, kid. Taking on the noble duty of serving a Divine Beast.]
“Huh? What did I do?”
[The family living in this house used to mistreat you and wouldn’t even give you food, right? All the animals in this village know about it. Humans are truly wicked. They don’t look after their young and instead torment them.]
'My goodness.'
'To be comforted by a cat!'
“You, you, you guys. You all knew?”
[Sniff. Of course. Just because we can’t speak human language doesn’t mean we’re stupid.]
“Nabi!”
Vivian, her nose stinging, hugged the cat that was meowing at her feet.
The plump cat’s soft, warm body filled Vivian’s arms to the brim.
A smile naturally formed on Vivian’s lips at the happy sensation.
But Kiki was more upset than the cat being held.
[W-w-what are you doing, Vivian?! How dare you hug another animal instead of me!]
[Hiss!]
The cat, which had twisted its body flexibly to jump out of Vivian’s arms, hurriedly made excuses while bristling its fur.
[It’s a misunderstanding, Divine Beast! I, I didn’t dare to covet your human!]
Kiki scrambled up onto Vivian’s head as if to mark his territory.
[I shall let it slide this time! You had better be careful next time!]
[Y-yes! Thank you, Divine Beast!]
The cat scurried away without even looking back at the sunny spot, fearing that sparks might fly its way.
Watching the cat’s chubby backside disappear, Vivian pouted with a look of regret.
“Kiki chased the cat away.”
[Vivian! How could you dote on an animal other than me?!]
“When did I ever say I only doted on you?”
Kiki made a face as if the world were ending, staggered as if he were dizzy, and even nearly fell off Vivian’s head.
[How could you! How could you!]
“But the cat is cute.”
Vivian, feeling a bit mischievous, drove the point home as Kiki repeated the same words like a broken clock.
[…!]
Unable to bring himself to ask if he wasn’t cute due to his pride as a Divine Beast, Kiki climbed down from Vivian’s head with eyes that looked like they were about to tear up and climbed onto a different tree.
“Oh. Kiki! P-pfft.”
For some reason, Vivian couldn’t hold back the laughter bubbling up.
Still, she couldn’t leave him sulking like that.
“Kiki! I’m sorry! Come down!”
[Hmph!!]
“Oh, come on. I didn’t say you weren’t cute!”
[Who are you to keep acting like you know me?]
Kiki climbed onto a branch at the perfect height for Vivian to look up at and held his head high in protest.
Even though Vivian could see his large ears twitching every time she jumped up and down to say a word, he stubbornly pretended not to notice.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were this jealous.”
[When have I ever been jealous?! I am incapable of such things!]
“I’ll never dote on other animals in front of you again!”
[Doesn’t that mean you’ll do it when I’m not around?]
Vivian used her ultimate move.
She clasped her hands together, looked up, and turned her eyebrows into a sad arch.
At the very least, Jean always fell for this.
[Ugh…!]
Kiki groaned and held out against the eye attack delivered with eyes as gentle as a rabbit’s.
It was hard to tell why he was holding out so stubbornly, but it seemed his pride wouldn’t allow him to give in just yet.
“Kiki, please come down now. Okay?”
There was a group watching the little drama unfolding between Vivian and Kiki.
[It’s the Divine Beast! Huh, but why is he over there?]
[Indeed. It seems that human did something wrong.]
[The human is at fault.]
[The human is at fault.]
Vivian felt wronged by the whispering of whatever butterflies or ants were passing by.
‘I didn’t do anything wrong!’
Jean, who should have been enjoying a leisurely tea time while sitting on the sofa in the drawing room… was shaking his legs uncontrollably.
The reason Jean, who would have warned Vivian that shaking her legs was against etiquette, was doing this was—
Because no news had arrived that diamonds had been discovered in the Dohaju Mine.
‘Is this a failure? Well, there’s no guarantee the animals correctly identified the diamonds. There were a few other mines with “ju” in their names, after all.’
‘Should I buy up every mine with “ju” in its name?’
‘Do I have the spare funds? Should I give up on the diamond mine now and start a different business?’
‘No. I still have some leeway with the jewels I brought back from the deserted island. There’s no need to give up just yet—’
Ripples formed in the teacup, as if reflecting the owner’s state of mind.
There were two pairs of eyes watching Jean’s anxious appearance intently.
The owners of those gazes were—
Vivian and Kiki.
[Why are you just watching your dad like this? Should I call him for you instead?]
“No! Shh, shh.”
Vivian raised her index finger to her lips. The look of intense tension on her face was clearly that of someone plotting something.
[What are you trying to do behind your dad’s back? If you’re planning something dangerous…]
“It’s not like that!”
[Then why on earth are you doing this?]
“Tomorrow is Dad’s birthday! But I still haven’t—”
There was a dull sound of something falling behind them.
Startled, Vivian turned around to see Anne looking at her with her mouth wide open. A laundry basket was rolling at her feet, as if she had been on her way to hang up the laundry.
“Anne!”
“I-is it his birthday?”
“Shh! He’ll hear you!”
“Hup.”
The way she hurriedly covered her mouth looked like a scene from a comedy.
Anne bent at the waist and crept over to where Vivian was clinging to the window.
“A birthday… but why are you watching him so secretly?”
“Well, I don’t know what to give him as a gift…”
“What did you give him as a gift before?”
Vivian’s head drooped.
“I’ve never given him anything…”
It was only natural. Vivian was five years old when Jean left.
In fact, Jean wasn’t even expecting Vivian to give him a gift this year. If there were any adult who expected that from a child… wouldn’t that person be the one in the wrong?
Just as Anne was about to comfort Vivian by saying it was fine not to give gifts, Vivian muttered while fidgeting with her short fingers.
“When Dad wasn’t here, Peter gave Ron and Mary gifts for their birthdays, and they were so happy… I want to make Dad that happy, too…”
What Peter gave as a gift was nothing more than a drawing he’d scribbled at the last minute, but Ron and Mary, who loved their son dearly, were overjoyed by it.
It was a scene that had left a deep impression on Vivian, who had only ever watched the happy family from afar in front of a table full of food for a birthday.
Jean had returned as if by a miracle, so she could finally make that dream come true, but…
The problem was that she had been so busy that she only remembered it was his birthday the day before!
Since they said they were going to move, tomorrow was the last day she could celebrate her dad’s birthday in this house.
Vivian was utterly dejected, and Anne felt a pang in her heart as she watched her.
Without realizing it, Anne thumped her chest and declared loudly.
“Leave it to me, Young Miss!”
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